Combination hamster cages made of plastic and wire have some negatives associated with them. You have to think about these before buying this type of hamster cage.

Size: Many of the basic one-story plastic and wire combination hamster habitats will not have enough space for a normal sized Syrian or Teddy Bear hamster. The plastic and wire cage complete kits usually come with an exercise wheel, a water bottle, and a food bowl. These will all take up space inside the cage. Then your Syrian will need a few toys to chew on as well as both a bedding and a bathroom area. Pretty soon your Teddy Bear or Golden hamster can be restricted to a small area inside the cage.

One way to get around this is to add a second or third story or add some climbing tubes that will let the hamster get to a second cage. But that will cost more money.

Air circulation: Moving air around is a big deal in hamster cages. Hamsters need air circulation because they exercise a lot and because there are fumes from where they go to the bathroom. Both this type cage and aquariums have a problem getting enough air circulating inside the cage. If your plastic cage has a few stories with more wire bars, that would help circulate the air. But if there’s more plastic than wires, there will be less air circulation and this is bad for your hamster. Also, unless your climbing tubes have some holes in them, air won’t circulate much inside the tubes.

Cleaning: All hamster habitats have to be cleaned out every once in a while but this plastic and wire cage can be particularly tough when it comes to cleaning. You have to take the cage apart to clean it. With a wire cage you just take off the top, clean the wire bars, and then clean out the bedding in the base.

With a combination hamster cage you have to do all that as well as take all the plastic tubes out of their holes. That means you have to be extra careful so none of the plastic breaks. Then, even when you get them out, you have to clean all the pieces individually. So there’s a lot more cleaning involved than with a wire cage.

Security: A wire door with a strong latch usually provides good security for keeping your hamster in its cage. A good latch is one that snaps tightly to the wire bars. Some people even use an additional wire to make sure the door stays shut. If the door doesn’t have a latch, your hamster can easily push it open.

On some combination plastic and wire cages the doors on top are just plastic. If these doors don’t have a strong latch, this is an area where even a dwarf hamster can push the door open and escape.

Also, you want to be sure there are no cracked plastic pieces when you finish putting together this type of cage. Your hamster will try to nibble on the crack to make a hole so he or she can get out of the cage.

There are some positives that you should know about when you’re thinking about buying plastic and wire combination hamster cage. Let’s look at them.

Exciting Colors: The plastic parts of these cages come in colors that make them very attractive. Typical colors are yellow, red, and green. But there are also purple and blue cages, and some are even pink. Even the parts that come with the cage kits are made of bright colors. Looking at your hamster as he or she runs around the cage and climbing tubes can make it a lot more fun to watch your hamster when it plays.

Complete Kits: Most of these type habitats come in a box as one big kit. They usually include a food bowl, an exercise wheel, and a water bottle. Some of them have bags with food, bedding, and even some hamster potty litter. What this means is that you get everything in one box and you don’t have to buy a lot of separate pieces. If you’re just getting your first hamster, it makes this kind of cage very convenient.

Hamster Tubes: Many of these cages have holes that let you add hamster tubes to them. That means you can expand your cage by adding different climbing tubes. You can connect to another cage to give your hamster more room, or you can build complex mazes outside the cage with all the different tubes. If you want to look at how you can put different tube mazes together be sure to click on Hamster Tube Video Reviews.

Many Choices: When you’re looking for these kits at Amazon or your local pet store, you’re going to have a lot of different choices. These cages come in one story, two-story, and three-story sizes. They can come with an exercise wheels and climbing tubes. Some even come with a little carrying kit that’s part of the cage. This is great because you know you’re not going to be stuck with one choice. You get to look around and pick something that you really like to look at.

Easy to Put Together: For some of these hamster cages you just have to attach the wire middle to the bottom base with large clips and then just snap on the top. The cages that come with a hamster tubes are sometimes more difficult to put together.